The Actors Segawa Kikunojo III as the Spirit of Joro-gumo (Harlot Spider) Disguised as the Maiko Tsumagiku (right), and Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Urabe no Suetake (left), in the Play Shitenno Tonoi no Kisewata, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1781
c. 1781
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban; diptych
Dimensions
30.9 × 14.1 cm (12 3/16 × 5 9/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
88301
Art Historical Context
This vibrant diptych woodblock by Katsukawa Shunsho, created around 1781, captures two stars of Edo-period kabuki theater: Segawa Kikunojo III the seductive Spirit of Joro-gumo—a mythical yokai (demon) spider disguised as the maiko Tsumagiku—on the right, and Ichikawa Monnosuke II as the warrior Urabe no Suetake on the left. It depicts a scene from the play *Shitenno Tonoi no Kisewata*, performed at the Nakamura Theater in the eleventh month of that year. Shunsho, a leading ukiyo-e master renowned for his yakusha-e (actor prints), immortalized these onnagata (male actors specializing in female...